Genesis 31:16
in Genesis 31Surely all the wealth that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children. So do whatever God has told you.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For all the riches which God hath taken away from our father, that is ours and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
KJV
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children’s: now then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do.
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This verse in Genesis 31
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Do we have any portion or inheritance left
on Genesis 31:14-16
The sisters answer with one voice, and Rachel is named first though Leah is the elder. Their charge is that their father treats them as outsiders, sold them, and spent what was paid for them. They say the wealth God took from Laban belongs to them and their children.
This site's exposition
belongs to us and to our children
The last words between these sisters, at Genesis 30:14 and 15, were a quarrel over mandrakes. Their father's dealings have now put them on one side. They claim the wealth for their children, the sons who become the tribes of Israel.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. 21 So he fled with all that he had; and he rose up, and passed over the river, and set his face toward the mount Gilead. 22 And it was told Laban on the third day that Jacob was fled.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
For all the riches which God hath taken from our father,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
It is as if he sold us. Laban did not actually sell them, hence I.E.’s comment.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעֹ֗שֶׁר | haosher | the wealth | H6239 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הִצִּ֤יל | hitzil | he has taken away | H5337 → | 212 times |
| אֱלֹהִים֙ | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| מֵֽאָבִ֔ינוּ | meavinu | from father our | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לָ֥נוּ | lanu | [belongs] to <the> us | ||
| ה֖וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וּלְבָנֵ֑ינוּ | ulevaneinu | and to children our | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וְעַתָּ֗ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| כֹּל֩ | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָמַ֧ר | ʾamar | he has said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֛ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֵלֶ֖יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עֲשֵֽׂה׃ | ʾaseh | do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כָל־all
khol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעֹ֗שֶׁרthe wealth
haosherH6239 →
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הִצִּ֤ילhe has taken away
hitzilH5337 →212 times
אֱלֹהִים֙God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
מֵֽאָבִ֔ינוּfrom father our
meavinuH1 →1212 times
לָ֥נוּ[belongs] to <the> us
lanu
ה֖וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
וּלְבָנֵ֑ינוּand to children our
ulevaneinuH1121 →4930 times
וְעַתָּ֗הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
כֹּל֩all
kolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָמַ֧רhe has said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֱלֹהִ֛יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
אֵלֶ֖יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
עֲשֵֽׂה׃do
ʾasehH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 45:10Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 2:10–13
My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one.
- Genesis 12:1
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.
- Matthew 10:37
Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
- Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal…
- 2 Corinthians 6:17
“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- Song of Solomon 2:10–13
Through
Genesis 31:9Thus God has taken away your father’s livestock and given them to me.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:1
Now Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken away all that belonged to our father and built all this wealth at our father’s expense.”
- Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Esther 8:1–2
That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.
- Genesis 31:1
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.